MEDIA ALERT - Australia to compete against Mexico TODAY

WHO:                   Australian Baseball Team vs. Mexico

WHAT:                2009 World Baseball Classic - Australia will play their first game of the Classic today.

WHERE:             Foro Sol Stadium - Mexico City, Mexico

WHEN:                Sunday 8 March at 7.00pm local (Mexican) time / Monday 9 March at 12.00noon AEST

HOW:                The MLB network (www.mlb.com) will be broadcasting the game, and supporting documentation including game notes, statistics, quotes and press releases can all be found at www.mlbpressbox.com.

WHY:              The World Baseball Classic is the premier international baseball tournament, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, and features the best players in the world competing for their home countries and territories.  In March 2006, 486 players (235 of them from MLB organizations) representing 16 teams from across the globe competed in the inaugural event.  More than 740,000 fans from 48 states and 15 countries attended games (16 of which sold out) and millions more watched on TV as Team Japan was crowned the first-ever World Baseball Classic Champion.  The inaugural tournament was broadcast by 48 media outlets in 10 languages to 205 countries and territories around the world.  Media members representing 25 different nations attended the 39 games in seven host venues across three countries/territories.  The 2009 World Baseball Classic will be played from March 5 - 23 2009 and will again feature 16 of the greatest baseball-playing nations in the world.  The tournament will be held every four years thereafter, with plans in place to expand the participant field beginning in 2013.

NOTES:

Craig Anderson will be the starting pitcher in todays game. Craig spent most of 2008 with Triple-A Norfolk of the Baltimore Orioles organization. He spent six years in the minors for Seattle from 1999-2004, debuting at age 18, and notched a single-season career-high 178 strikeouts in 28 starts (179.01 IP) with single games (213 starts). Craig was the youngest player to start an Australian Baseball League game in 1996 at age 16, finishing the season 1-1 with a 2.61 ERA.  Signed as non drafted free agent by Mariners, March 2, 1999. INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE: Craig participated in the 1996 AA World Youth Championships in Japan and was a standout in the 2000 MLB All-star Futures Game. Craig represented Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and was also an integral member of the silver medal winning Australian team at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He also donned the green and gold at the 2005 World Cup and the 2006 WBC.

For further information or to arrange an interview with a player or coach, contact Jennifer Stockman on +1202 280 0485 or at jennifer.stockman@baseball.org.au

Host website: www.worldbaseballclassic.com